True for You but Not for Me
Can something be true for you and not true for me? In other words, is the truth relative or is the truth fixed? How you answer this question shapes the way you look at the world. Renowned philosophy professor Paul Copan provides an excellent road map through this tricky and vitally important issue.
A 69-year-old man in the Netherlands petitioned the court to legally change his age to ___________ because that’s how he felt .
29394959Why is ‘true for you but not for me’ relativism disconcerting?
because it requires the acceptance of obvious contradictionsbecause it requires denial of realitybecause it requires denial of common senseall of the aboveAt its root, truth is a match-up with reality. A story, statement, or belief is only true if it lines up with what’s real.
TrueFalseWhat does the motto of Harvard University, Veritas, translate from Latin to English as?
KnowledgeTruthWisdomnone of the aboveTruth isn’t ______________________________.
opinionpreferencesubjectiveall of the above
- Relativists say that objective truth cannot exist, yet want everyone to accept their subjective “truth”—even when it’s verifiably false.
Relativists say that objective truth cannot exist, yet want everyone to accept their subjective version of the “truth.”
View sourceAn NAACP president named Rachel Dolezal, who has since renamed herself Nkechi Diallo, was found to be a white woman pretending to be black.
View sourceWhen confronted about her race, Dolezal famously responded, "I identify as black."
View sourceA 69-year-old man in the Netherlands petitioned the court to legally change his age to 49 because he felt 20 years younger.
View sourceWATCH: “Gender Identity: Can a 5'9, White Guy Be a 6'5, Chinese Woman?” – Family Policy Institute of Washington
View source- Relativists want to blur the line between the most basic truths, such as the distinction between men and women.
Relativism has gone so far that in New York City, employers who refuse to address someone by their preferred pronoun could face fines of up to $250,000.
View sourceRelativism when it comes to biological sex was placed into law by President Obama’s Title IX regulations that redefined “sex” as “gender identity.”
View sourceIn New York, you can change the sex on your birth certificate without getting a sex-change operation.
View sourceWATCH: “Gender Identity: Why All the Confusion?” – Ashley McGuire
View sourceWATCH: “Should Trans Women Compete With Women?” – PragerU
View source- “True for you but not for me” relativism requires the acceptance of obvious contradictions, denial of reality, and common sense.
Relativism is self-contradictory by claiming that relativism is absolutely true yet absolute truth is false.
View sourceOne famous attempt at age-related relativism occurred in the Netherlands. When a man requested to change his age from 69 to 49, the judge reasoned that the decision would have “undesirable legal and societal implications.”
View sourceWATCH: “No One is Really a Relativist” – Josh McDowell
View sourceRelated Reading: “True for You, But Not for Me: Overcoming Objections to Christian Faith” – Paul Copan
View source- Finding truth used to be the focus of education. Now, relativism reigns on American campuses.
According to Paul Copan, “Truth is true – even if no one knows it – even if no one admits it – even if no one agrees what it is – even if no one follows it – even if no one but God grasps it fully.”
View sourceThe motto of Harvard University is “veritas,” Latin for “truth,” but Harvard, like many universities, has increasingly embraced relativism in recent decades.
View sourceThe university system has become increasingly run by professors who largely hate the West and dismiss objective truth.
View sourceWATCH: “Six Minutes on the True Purpose of University Education” – Jordan Peterson
View sourceWATCH: “Do College Kids Know the Difference Between Men and Women?” – Family Policy Institute of Washington
View source- Increasingly people speak of “my truth” or “your reality,” but truth is only true if it’s true for everyone.
At the 2018 Golden Globe awards, Oprah Winfrey famously said that “speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.”
View sourceWall Street Journal writer Byron Tau noted, “Oprah employed a phrase that I’ve noticed a lot of other celebrities using these days: ‘your truth’ instead of ‘the truth.’ But he added, “‘your truth’ undermines the idea of shared common facts.”
View sourceRelativists expect everyone to believe their views, committing the “self-excepting fallacy.”
View sourceWATCH: “Jordan Peterson's Antidote to Moral Relativism” – Joe Rogan
View source
Is there such a thing as truth?
Or is everything, including truth, a statement of personal opinion or preference? In other words, is truth relative?
For our purposes here, let’s put aside the science angle. Yes, you can sit on a couch and not appear to be moving, but since the earth, at the equator, is rotating at 1100 miles per hour, you are, from that perspective, moving—and very fast. I’m not talking about that kind of relative.
Let’s confine ourselves to the more everyday questions of truth. Like, does it exist?
Once, the answer to this question was obvious—usually confined to late-night discussions in college dorm rooms. But no longer.
Truth is going through a tough time.
A white woman feels black and represents herself to be so. She rises in the leadership ranks of the NAACP until her fiction is exposed. She refuses to go quietly, however. She feels black, and so she is black.
A 69 year-old man in the Netherlands petitions the court to legally change his age to 49 because that’s how he feels.
And, of course, seemingly on a daily basis, men (and more and more boys), with all the chromosomes and body parts that make them distinctly male, declare themselves to be female; and women (and more and more girls) likewise declare themselves to be male. They feel they are one sex or the other; therefore, they are that sex. And we must accept that, regardless of what the truth is.
In a viral video, a 5-foot, 9-inch American Caucasian male asks students at the University of Washington to acknowledge that he’s Chinese, or six-foot-five, or a woman. Some hesitate, but no one will tell him what he’s saying is not true – that he’s not what he says he is. That would be “mean”—and “intolerant.”
This “true for you, but not for me” relativism is disconcerting because it requires the acceptance of obvious contradictions, denial of reality, and common sense. Rather than adjusting our lives to the truth, the truth has to adjust itself to us.
But it’s very difficult to live this way, not to mention it being highly impractical. We rely on mind-independent universal truths in order to think clearly, to navigate life. Otherwise, we quickly get lost. There must be some things that just are—things that are true. This way points North for everybody, no matter what anyone happens to prefer or sincerely believe.
So, what is truth?
At its root, truth is a match-up with reality. A story, a statement, or belief is only true if it lines up with what’s real. It’s like a socket wrench fitting perfectly onto a bolt. Reality is the truth-maker; reality makes something true. To say “the earth is flat” or “the moon is made of green cheese” is false. Why? Because it doesn’t match up with reality.
Until quite recently, the purpose of all education in large part was the pursuit of truth. The motto of Harvard University, for example, is “veritas,” Latin for “truth.”
No more. Anyone who says education should be about the pursuit of truth is immediately shot down with the comeback: “Whose truth?”
Increasingly, people speak of “my truth,” or say “it’s true for me,” or “your reality”—as though truth is merely a matter of opinion or perspective. At the 2018 Golden Globe awards, Oprah Winfrey famously said that “speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.”
Now, you can have your experience or your perspective. But there is no such thing as “your truth” or “my truth.” There is only the truth—that which is true for everyone.
As Wall Street Journal writer Byron Tau noted, “Oprah employed a phrase that I’ve noticed a lot of other celebrities using these days: ‘your truth’ instead of ‘the truth.’” But, he added, “’your truth’ undermines the idea of shared common facts.”
And here’s another problem with “your truth”: If “your truth” is truth, anyone who doesn’t hold that truth must be wrong. This sounds a lot like narcissism. And it’s intellectual bullying. “Believe ‘my truth’—or else.” Not exactly a positive, pro-truth message.
Yeah, truth is going through a tough time.
So let’s review: Truth can’t be relative. If it is relative, it’s not truth. To say “there is no truth for all people” is to declare a truth for all people. In effect, you’re saying, “It’s true that there is no truth!” And to declare that both your and my opinions are true even if they contradict one another is to speak nonsense.
Truth isn’t opinion or preference. It’s not subjective or relative. It is inescapable because reality is inescapable.
No amount of double-talk will change that.
And that’s the truth.
I’m Paul Copan, author of True for You, But Not for Me, for Prager University.
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